Caresser

[Crack1]

1] Les chats aiment sont caressés.

Cats love being stroked.
Is my French sentence fine?


Je vous caresse. [ I stroke you.]
Tu ma caresses. [ You stroke me.]

I think when it comes to girls the word pat is better than stroke.
Je tapote les belle filles. [ I pat beautiful girls.]

[hmoun]

Cats loved being stroked :les chats aiment être caressés.
Je te caresse.
Tu me caresses.
I pat beautiful girls , i'm not sure, i would use caresser as well, tapoter sounds strange here. But i'm not sure what it means!

[Crack1]

Thanks hmoun for the reply.

If you just give light tap on the shoulder, you pat her.

You can tap her on the shoulder.
I hope you know the meaning of the word 'tap' in this context.
Patting is like touching. However, there is a difference between touch and pat.

I don't know how to say this in French.
One of my French dictionaries says pat means 'donner une tape à'. Furthermore it is a transitive verb.

I pat beautiful girls.
You stroke your cat/dog.

I want to know the correct word for pat.

[hmoun]

it should be : donner une tape sur l'épaule ou la tête.
It's still sounds strange in french to use it in this sentence. like : je donne une tape sur l'épaule des jolies filles.
It's usually more used for friend, to congratulate them, it's quite familiar.

[Frank]

Uh-oh, "caresser" should be used with caution.

While "caresser" + an animal or a specific part of the body indeed means to stroke, "caresser" + sb and its reflexive form actually mean to masturbate. This also applies to the verb "toucher".

[Frank]

The word you are looking for is effleurer.

[hmoun]

yes!

[Crack1]

I thank both hmoun and Frank for the replies.

Cats loved being stroked.
5] Les chats aiment être effleurer.
I accept the 5th sentence as the correct one.
Please tell me.
The English sentence is a passive one. Is the French sentence passive one?

So 'donner une tape à' is not relevant in this conext.

...............................................................................................................................................................

I hope the following are fine.
Je te caresse. [ I stroke you.]
Tu me caresses. [ You stroke me.]
Please tell me even here the verb should be 'effleurer'.

[Frank]

Hi Crack,

When it comes to animals, caresser is your best pick.

Les chats aiment être effleurer.

Les chats aiment être caressés.

Yep, the passive form is correct.

Je te caresse. [ I stroke you.]
Tu me caresses. [ You stroke me.]

As stated before, "caresser (sb)" or "se caresser" means to masturbate.

Unless this is really the intent of your phrase, you should either use "effleurer" (possibly followed by a part of the body, like "la peau" or "le visage") or "caresser" but with an explicit mention of the part of the body.

Je te caresse les cheveux
Tu me caresses le dos

[Crack1]

Frank, you didn't get my point.

People stroke their cats and dogs.

So it would be fine to say cats love being stroked.

It can be cats, dogs, girls, horses, etc.

When you stroke, it can be neck, mouth, ears, etc.

This act is simply stroking.
So cats love being stroked.
In English, it is not necessary to mention the body part.

How do I say the following in French?
Cats love being stroked.


Les chats aiment être caressés. [ All right, you wrote this one.]


Les filles aiment être caressés. [ Is this fine too?]

[Frank]

As written above: Les chats aiment être caressés

Mentioning the part of the body is necessary when talking about somebody (or about yourself, with the reflexive form), not about animals.

[Crack1]

Les filles aiment être caressés les epules. [ shoulders]

Les filles aiment être caressés les mains. [ hands]

Les filles aiment être caressés les visages. {face]

Les filles aiment être caressés les chevux. [ hair]
I hope all the above sentences are fine.

I found it is hard to digest that French needs to mention the part of the body.

Cats love being stroked.
Girls love being stroked.

[Frank]

Les filles aiment qu'on leur caresse les épaules (les mains / le visage / les cheveux).

Les chats aiment qu'on les caresse.